Some first looks at KU’s new roster
Tuesday afternoon featured a live scrimmage between Kansas players at the annual Bill Self Basketball Camp. That meant a first look at multiple new Jayhawks, both freshmen and transfers, but ended abruptly with a scary moment.
I won’t make you read until the end to find out about the injury. Sophomore Elmarko Jackson was fouled on a drive to the hoop and hit the floor hard. Trainers reportedly tended to him for several minutes, focusing on his knee or lower leg. Senior center Hunter Dickinson said noted that Jackson was able to walk off the court under his own power, and Bill Self later said “Elmarko’s going to be fine.” No further details on the specific injury have been offered, but unless something is far worse than could be initially identified, it doesn’t sound like this will cause Jackson any problems when camp comes around this fall.
While the scrimmage was cut short after Jackson’s fall, multiple players had a chance to showcase the skills Jayhawk fans hope to see when real play starts in November. Most notable was incoming freshman Rakease Passmore, who led all players with 16 points in the scrimmage, which ended with a 46-38 score. Passmore hit four threes, which is great to hear after last year’s team struggled to make outside shooting a meaningful part of their game. KU’s other incoming freshman, 5 star center Flory Bidunga, also made an impact, showing off every bit of the athleticism scouting reports have been raving about throughout his high school career.
Bill Self had some interesting words about Bidunga afterward. Bidunga has always been labeled a center, and generally listed as 6’8 or even 6’9. Self raved about his ability, but noted the potential for trial and error in determining how he fits into what Kansas will do this season, saying “he’s really not tall, 6’7 or 6’7.5, but he’s a terrific, freakish type athlete that can change directions, that can jump, that can put pressure on the rim…but can he play with Hunter, or how does that work?”
There are already questions about going into another season with KJ Adams, notably not a perimeter presence on the offensive end, once again working next to All-American center Hunter Dickinson. It seems Bidunga and Adams may have similar skill sets, and it’s clearly not set in stone how Bidunga will be used with established players like Adams and Dickinson likely commanding a lot of frontcourt minutes.
Alabama transfer Rylen Griffen hit a pair of threes, which is representative of what Self will need him to do when the real games start. Wisconsin transfer wing AJ Storr scored nine points, including a three and a monster two-handed dunk. South Dakota State transfer guard Zeke Mayo was one of only two players to go scoreless. That may mean nothing at all in terms of his ability to score at the major conference level, but after the Nic Timberlake experience last year, fans may not be able to help themselves from wondering how Mayo will look when he starts playing teams like North Carolina, Creighton, Houston, and plenty of other top-level teams the Jayhawks face this year.
It’s virtually impossible to take a lot away from a camp scrimmage in early June, but nonetheless it’s fun to get a glimpse of what the team may look like after a lot of disappointment down the stretch in the spring. It sounds like Jackson should be fine, and hopefully improved enough to battle for meaningful minutes surrounded by a much more competitive roster than what we saw in 2023-24.
UPDATE
It appears Bill Self’s initial reaction to the Elmarko Jackson injury may have undersold it. Jackson tore his patellar tendon and will need surgery to repair it, per a Wednesday release from Kansas basketball. The full rehab process is expected to take an entire year, though they did indicate he’ll start non-contact drills within “a few months.” They did not offer a time frame for when they expect him to return to playing in actual games, but based on the recovery timeline, it would seem very unlikely he’ll play for the team this upcoming season. It remains to be seen how big a blow that will be to Kansas’ depth, given that Jackson had a rough freshman year but clearly has the athleticism to play at this level. There was at least optimism that the game might slow down for him in his sophomore season to where he could be more of a contributor. Fortunately, Self has really focused on building up depth this season, and even if we were going to see an improved version of Jackson, this is not a critical blow to the team’s celling.